Hardcopy devices, such as copiers, printers, facsimile machines, multi-function devices (MFD), and the like, are widely used for producing hard copy documents on print media such as such as paper, card stock, transparencies, envelopes, labels and the like. Such hardcopy devices typically include a mechanism configured to pick an individual sheet of media from a stack of media held in an input tray and transport the sheet to a media feed path in the hardcopy device. One commonly used pick mechanism is the swing arm pick mechanism. In a swing arm pick mechanism, a driven pick roller or tire is mounted to the end of a swing arm that pivots or “swings” above the media input tray. The pick roller rests on top of the stack of media sheets in the tray. A biasing force applied to the swing arm urges the pick roller in contact with the topmost sheet in the tray, thereby creating friction between the pick roller and the topmost sheet. When rotated, the pick roller picks the topmost sheet and advances it to the media feed path.
Many hardcopy devices are capable of handling a variety of media sizes. Thus, media input trays are often designed to accommodate multiple media sizes, such as letter, legal, and A4 paper sizes, as well as a range of envelope and label sizes. In hardcopy devices that utilize a swing arm pick mechanism, the swing arm assembly is generally located to one side of the input tray to accommodate different sizes of media. For many media sizes, the pick roller is thus offset with respect to the centerline of the media. Because the pick roller contacts and drives the media from an off-center position, the driving force is applied to one side of the media sheet. This unbalanced driving force tends to cause the media sheet to enter the media feed path at an angle. This results in a skewing error that can lead to printing errors, such as poor margin control and crooked print, or media feed errors, such as paper damage and jams.